For Anna, making art is ritual play, an improvised dance, and her materials are equal partners in this dance. Interwoven with this is her value and logic-driven science-geek curiosity. She uses reclaimed materials, a primary medium being the hair of her dog, Shadow, which she hand-spins and felts using ancient techniques. She creates costumes that are alive, whether inhabited in performance, or existing as beings in their own right.

Anna’s performance work is informed by embracing the awkward and weird as poetry. She uses her performances as the basis of further works, including films and embroidered panels. These components come together to create shrines to our inspirited world, haunted by beings that inhabit in the space between myth and science, between heritage and dreams.  Anna is a recipient of the RSA New Contemporaries Award and Outer Spaces Scotland Award. Her performance work is featured in the movie The Outrun. 

See Anna’s work as part of our exhibition of work by emerging artists, Starter Pack, curated by gallery intern Hope Reynolds. Starter Pack is many things: it’s a grass roots opportunity for artists to begin, or expand on, their repertoire of exhibitions, to connect with other artists in Glasgow, to further their understanding of working with galleries and curators, and to gain publicity. Starter Pack runs at Six Foot from August 12th to August 26th.

Hi Anna! Tell us about your ‘style,’ what does it mean to you? 
My work has been described as feminine, but it is a visceral, earthy femininity. There is always a sense of movement and aliveness, and my work often features tendrils, tangles, roots and mycelial networks, reflecting my focus on the interconnectedness of everything and the idea that every thing lives. The edges of my fabric panels are always frayed, not hemmed, they are hung by eyelets pierced through the cloth, and the edges of the image and fabric are not conformed to, reflecting my philosophy of questioning conventional boundaries.

What is your chosen medium, why do you enjoy working with it? 
I will use whatever medium works, or whatever the work itself requests, as long as it is minimally harmful to the environment. I use primarily reclaimed materials. Many of my materials come from charity shops, for example embroidery thread and beads. One of my main materials is the fur of my dog Shadow, which I hand-spin and felt. I like using reclaimed materials as I must spend time with them, sorting and preparing, getting to know them, making friends. My relationship with my materials is central to my practice, they are my guides and equal partners.

Tell us about your creative process. From the origins of an idea, to the outcome of creation. 
My initial idea is often quite loose. I am more interested in finding opportunities to try new techniques and materials than produce any specific visual outcome – I want a lot of surprises along the way. For example, for my costume and performance of Maan Emo (Mother of Earth), the initial thought was ‘a dead pantomime horse’, which popped into my head while making props for a panto. I wanted to learn how to felt dog hair so I decided to use that for the body. I then studied a horse skull at the UHI Archaeology Institute in preparation to make the mask. This led me to the site where the skull was found, on the island of Rousay, and this is where I staged my performance, guided by the site. The costume itself dictated the nature of my movements. My creative process is as much about listening as it is about making.

What does community (in the arts) mean to you?
I am highly interdisciplinary, so my idea of community in the arts is not limited to the art world. Art is something fundamentally human: anyone who makes art or does crafts or anything else creative – whether or not they identify what they do as art in a modern Western context – is part of this community and it stretches back hundreds of thousands of years. Ultimately, it is about making connections and collaborating with people who share the understanding that creativity matters. I would also include my materials as part of my creative community – they are just as much collaborators as my human community and they are my best teachers.

How did studying at an institution shape you as an artist? Did the experience impact your work or methods?
Studying at UHI Orkney was somewhat unique. The abundant support from our tutors and the close-knit student body fostered collaboration and community, reflecting island life. I studied part-time over eight years, so my practice was exposed to a myriad of approaches and had the time to evolve. I began as a photographer, moved toward painting, and eventually I found myself as a fibre and performance artist, which I would never have expected at the beginning of my student journey. During my portfolio course textiles were my nemesis, and in my first year my tutor Stuart Sim said, ‘you know Anna, I think you’re a performance artist’, which I pooh-poohed heartily at the time! This just goes to show how important it is not to define ourselves too narrowly as artists, and to always be ready to challenge our own assumptions.

Have you recently finished your degree? What’s next for you? 
I graduated in from UHI Orkney in 2024 and won the RSA New Contemporaries Award for my degree show, which spurred me on to take my work further and really find my voice. My installation at the RSA won the Outer Spaces Scotland Award, which includes a residency in Aberdeen early next year. I will be exploring the development of an immersive, transportable installation of an ‘under-sea sacred grove’, featuring film, embroidered panels and dog-hair fishing nets. I have become an active member of the Móti Collective, based in Orkney, and my membership with the NEUK Collective (for neurodivergent artists in Scotland) has been very helpful in learning how to be a professional artist while remaining true to my neurodivergence. I am starting a part-time MA in Contemporary Art & Archaeology at UHI this autumn and, longer-term, my dream is to study for a PhD in Art and Philosophy – I am, fundamentally, a massive geek.

Find out more about Anna’s work on Instagram. Starter Pack runs at Six Foot Gallery until Tuesday 26th August 2025.